The PS2's best online game should not be missed by anyone with the network adapter.
User Rating: 9.1 | SOCOM II: U.S. Navy SEALs PS2
Even though this game was released a year and a half ago, it is still easily the best online PS2 game available.The single player however, does not get as much praise. It's not really that bad, it's just pretty standard and not that exciting. In fact, I didn't even finish the single player because I only played it when my Internet was down. That's how much better the online mode is. Gameplay The gameplay here is pretty solid. All the buttons are used and the layout is pretty easy to use. For the single player, the voice recognition is a pretty cool feature and I had a lot of fun with that. The squad you're with could be a little smarter, and could be a little more responsive to your commands. The enemy AI is also pretty lame, as they don't really try anything smart to take you down. For the online play, using the headset is essential. At least 9 out of 10 people that play have one, so communication is pretty easy. There are 22 maps, 25 with the hard drive, which seems like more than enough, unless you play the game for 600 hours. However, if you switch between maps often, the good ones will stay fresh and always be fun to play. Then there's the issue of lag. Every online game has it, and this one is no exception. This is not a reason to dock points, because most of the time the game runs smooth. Certain maps do have some framerate issues and certain people lag pretty bad, but with 30,000 people on every day, the ping cannot be perfect. It's not really a big issue here. Graphics The visuals are pretty nice, but not awesome. The environments are pretty varied with waterfalls and trees and crumbled buildings. The shrubberies are just 2-dimensional, which look pretty ridiculous sometimes.There are air strikes, which can slow up the game a little, but only for a moment. Character models and weapons don't look that great, with painfully obvious jaggies. As a whole, the graphics in SOCOM II are pretty good, especially since the more detailed a map is, the greater chance for framerate issues. Sound I love all the sounds in the game, from the deafening explosions to the catchy theme music. After literally 2,000 times of hearing the theme song, you would think you would hate it, but it's a nice little orchestral piece that has a good sound to it. I also love the terrorists yelling in their native language, it never gets old for me. It's very realistic and fun to hear and try to imitate. Everything else sounds great, including the weapon sounds and the music during the game. Value It's outrageous how much you get for your money here, especially since the online service is free. It seems like I should've payed $300 for this game, and right now it's selling for $20. The single player is still worth playing through and it has four levels of difficulty, with unlockables for each. One thing I wish they would've added is training, especially if you went straight to the online, like I did. Something like a sniping challenge, grenade tossing challenge, stealth challenge, etc. This would help hone your skills if you didn't want to start by getting beat all the time in the online mode. Final Comments One problem I have with the online mode is the absolutely horrific messaging system. The only way to message someone is to be at the main menu and they only get the message if they are online, AND in a game or briefing room. The fact that people cannot send messages to people who are offline is ridiculous. The same goes for friend invites; not only does the other person have to be online, but if he signs off and signs back on the friend invite is gone. Why Zipper did this is beyond me, but since everything else is pretty good, it can just be something i hope they fix for SOCOM 3. Anyway, if you are a fan of online gaming, you definitely should try this out, because I've played this game six times more than any other game in my history of gaming. 
